ah, remember the good old days?

...and by the good old days, i mean the reason i started this blog, which was to post photos from the shows i went to. actually, it was denison witmer who started it all for me. i went to see him play 5 years ago, took photos, and decided to start a blog. and that's who i went to see last sunday night at the beat kitchen.

i don't think i've seen denison in a few years. in fact, i can't remember the last time i saw him. we've gotten so busy in our lives...i've been part of his fanbase since his first full-length album, and it was so much easier to keep in touch back when he didn't have thousands of fans to keep up with. so sunday night, he came up to me before the show, and the 1st thing out of his mouth after our hug hello was something like, 'thanks for your lovely gift of the gibson,' while he gave me a joking nudge.

...now some of you may be wondering what the heck he's talking about. well, he's referring to a beautiful vintage gibson j-45 acoustic guitar that i once owned. he had the chance to play it about 4 1/2 years ago when he stayed with me and my friend megan after a show. apparently, he really liked the guitar, although he never told me so. a few months later, i happened to see on his friendster profile that he'd changed his answer to the question 'who i want to meet' to 'someone who will sell me a vintage j-45 for cheap.' i laughed when i saw that, but i never said anything to him and never offered to sell it to him. that's because somebody already called dibs on the guitar a couple months before.

...about 5 years ago, my friend caleb saw the photo of my guitar on my blog. i'm not sure, but he may have drooled when he saw the photo, and he told me just how valuable the guitar was. he got to meet the guitar in person that july when he came out to chicago to help me in the merch tent at the infamous cornerstone of 2002. i think caleb fell in love with that guitar on the first strum. since that day, whenever caleb would come to town, he would make a special visit to my guitar.

some of my favorite musical moments have involved caleb and his friends playing that j-45 in my little attic apartment on churchill street. it was pretty obvious to me that the only reason i got possession of that guitar was so that i could pass it on to its rightful owner. i gave it to caleb last february when he was in town for a wedding. hopefully, it's getting good use now. a guitar like that--it would've been a shame for me to hold onto it.

...anyhoo, i digress...so the show sunday night was the first i'd been to in a LONG time. considering it was a snowy, cold sunday night, i was surprised by the turnout. by the time denison got up to play, the room was pretty packed. the college kids just love denison, and a little snow couldn't scare them. it's kinda fun looking back to the first show i saw him play, and how much more reserved he was back then with his stories. now, he's so relaxed on stage and has a great rapport w/ his audience. i had forgotten how much i love denison's songs. they were the soundtrack to one of the toughest periods of my life, and i think i will always have a special place carved out in my heart for him and his music.